Treasure (version 2)

Chapter 10 Bump in the Night

Sparkling – no better word could describe Zara as she slid beneath the covers. Her feet kicked in excitement as she waited for Roman to get out of the shower. Amazing. Tonight was absolutely amazing. The music carried them back to times when it was two best-ies making the most of life. Friends that did everything together and had each other's back. The chasm of their yearlong separation vanished. It was the two of them like it used to be.

Stepping past fear and dumping a decade of shit that they should have tossed a long time ago felt liberating. They still had a long way to go, but this kick-off proved that getting things out in the open immobilized the power of fear and shadows.

Spicy cologne filled the room when the bathroom door slipped open. Zara's pulse shot up as the fragrance tickled her nose. She could bury herself in his neck and smell him forever. The bed dipped under his weight, rolling her over to his side. The brief contact of their hips raised her blood pressure. Roman kissed the back of her neck, and then anchored his arm waist bound, pulling her backward. Zara fit in the curve of him. Tremors slithered down her back. This feels like heaven.

Her eyes drifted shut, but seconds later they flew open. The firm poke against her rear nearly flung her from the bed. She eased forward, only to feel his strong grip pulling her back.

"Roman," she wheezed.

"Please go to sleep, Zara, I'm so tired," he said, gently. She scooted forward again but he pulled her back.

"But..."

"Does it surprise you that you have made me rise?" he chuckled. "Let's go to sleep."

"Would it be better for you if I put the peppermint pajamas back on?"

Hell yes! "No, treasure, you're fine."

Eyes still wide and heart racing out of control, Zara turned to face him, her breasts inches from his chin. "I'll change."

"Stay." With her breast to his face and his eyes locked on her cleavage, he choked out, "If you flip back around and be still, I'll be fine." If you don't – Lord have mercy on me.

Zara's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh – OH, I'm sorry." She placed her arms over her chest and spun around, feeling his tug against her. Shit, shit, shit.

Roman's muffled laugh turned her pomegranate red. His fingers curled through her hair, tucking it behind her ear. "Tried to tell you," he teased, "you're hot."

***

Roman sat in his office disturbed by what happened after Zara went to sleep. It took a while for him to settle down so he grabbed his phone and did a brief check of his work email. The staff provided updates before the office shut down for the blizzard. They followed his directives and prepared for the first mission of the year. Zara's phone was on the charger next to his and just like before this Ethan G. was blowing up the phone.

He knew that Zara had seen the messages and was ignoring them. That bothered him. But things were going so well between them, it was no way he was going to bring this up. As he saw it, he had two options, get his staff to hack Zara's phone and get all the data on this jerk that he needed, or call Ava and ask who Ethan was. But the risk with that was how close Ava and Zara were. He didn't know if Ava could keep her mouth shut if he asked.

Those damn flashes from her cell had kept him up all night. He counted the number of times the man had dinged her before he'd gone to sleep. There were seventeen texts, most of them written in caps. He didn't read them but did observe. Roman dealt with 'bad guys' every day of the week at Gray Enterprises, and he felt this man would easily fit one of their evil profiles.